Does anyone have creative ways of memorizing pharmacology adverse effects?

[Burnt Almonds]

How do you memorize all the adverse effects? Do you pick the 3 top ones for each drug? Do you ignore things like headache or nausea and only focus on the unique adverse effects? Do you group drugs that share the same adverse effects? Do you create associations with each drug that helps it stick for life?

I do fine with memorizing everything for each exam but now that there are so many drugs...I forget all over again each time...how do I make them memorable for life so I don't feel like Sisyphus every morning?

I'm so tired of things like fluid retention, headache, nausea, flushing.

Help!

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[nymeria321]

sketchy pharm, not as good as micro but it does the trick for the most part

 

[Burnt Almonds]

sketchy pharm, not as good as micro but it does the trick for the most part

I did sketchy micro...for some reason their drawings do not stick with me. Do they bulk and integrate things in the pharm?

I like that Lionel French guy. It really helps when someone says "so which other drug had this profile...or also had this MOA".

 

[jds112]

Flash cards with spaced repetition are the only way I learn things that require brute force memorization. In this case, for Pharm, I purchased Lange Pharmacology flash cards because I don't have time to make every single card with the MOA, adverse effects etc in Anki (would be a different story had I done so during M2). Listen to Lionel for PK/PD then use the flashcards to memorize the drugs. I worry about the "important" side effects like you mentioned because quite frankly, you seem to always see headache, nausea etc in every stem lol
Go through the flash cards by group, edit whatever you want into/out of the cards then make a pile of the ones you don't know and keep going through them until you memorize them cold.

 

[nymeria321]

They mainly organize it by organ system.. so the drugs w the same MOAs will be in the same videos and play off each other to compare/contrast. But I absolutely loved sketchy micro so I'm biased. I wouldn't recommend it if that's not your fav way to learn. I'm just very visual and helps to quickly think of a scene and be like yup this is the answer and not doubt myself.

 

[TheShaker]

I personally read the section in FA, try to repeat it to myself over and over until it sticks, forget most of it in two days, then cry.

 

[ninjaman22]

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, and then repeat some more.

 

[Burnt Almonds]

I personally read the section in FA, try to repeat it to myself over and over until it sticks, forget most of it in two days, then cry.

Exactly this. Somehow repetition worked for me with micro because I felt like each bacteria or virus has an identity and personality. Contextual studying helps me a lot. With the pharm...so much overlap and no clinical experience to hammer it in.

 

[Burnt Almonds]

Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, and then repeat some more.

See Shaker's post above.

 

[sendiam]

read, then read more. never can study enough

 

[TwinsFan]

anki will grind them into your brain

 

[Burnt Almonds]

anki will grind them into your brain

What's anki? Is that some online flashcard?

 

[TwinsFan]

What's anki? Is that some online flashcard?

It's a free flashcard program with a pay mobile app